Skip to main content

Sake Continues Its Measured, Methodical Rise through the Spirit Ranks

Sake Fest Sake One Oregon Craft Glasses
Walking around last week’s Saké Fest PDX in Portland, Oregon, you see why the Japanese beverage has had trickling growth in the States. The variety is daunting and it’s not an easily accessible category.

The subtle nuances between “Junmai” and “Nigori” are tough to discern for inexperienced palettes and the beautiful artwork on most of the bottles doesn’t display much information unless you can read Japanese.

Related Videos

However, the tradition and practice of sake hasn’t lasted millennia just out of novelty. It’s a unique category literally steeped in the values of Asian drinking culture.

the making of sake one for sake fest

While the exact origins are disputed, one of the more prevalent theories is to date saké brewing back as far as 2,500 years when rice growing became commonplace in Japan. The earliest written records of saké are in third-century Chinese history books. They document saké drinking as a tradition while in mourning.

Fast forward a couple thousand years and saké is still brewed with the same four main ingredients: rice, water, yeast and an enzyme called koji. The process begins by hulling, polishing and removing impurities from brown rice grains. Spores of a special mold are added to the rice (after steaming) and then incubated to produce koji. That mixture is added to a yeast starter, which helps convert the rice starch into glucose. After a unique fermentation process, the new liquid is sent through a press to filter it. From there, it’s pasteurized and placed in cold storage to mature. After various filtration and aging options, the final product is done.

the making of sake one for sake fest

Back at Saké Fest, one of the larger tasting displays is from Oregon’s own SakéOne. The Forest Grove-based company is one of the only producers on the West Coast and easily the largest in the country.

“We’re kind of on our own island,” says SakéOne President and CEO Steve Vuylsteke. The beverage industry veteran comes from a family that started one of the state’s premier wineries and he went on to manage Erath before moving over to saké eight years ago. He estimates there are 20-24 producers nationally, many “garage-sized.”

SakéOne makes three labels locally – all premium – Momokawa, a Junmai Gingo; Moonstone, a Junmai that becomes a Junmai Gingo after flavoring is added; and g, their most flavor-forward offering. They also import six sakes, making them one of the larger companies doing so.

Each grade of saké is relatively mild, but after a few tastes, one can begin to discover the nuances.

the making of sake one for sake fest

Junmai is the simplest, made from the four main ingredients. Two more grades of Junmai are based on how much of the rice grain has been polished away. It goes all of the way to Nigori, which is unpressed, unfiltered and remains cloudy.

Vuylsteke says that beyond the varieties, many consumers are still only drinking it warm or hot when several grades are actually better cold.

“Their experience is not favorable and a lot of it is because of the lack of education about the beverage,” he says.

He adds that it’s encouraging to see new and younger drinkers get into saké. That was certainly evident at Saké Fest where many late 20- and early 30-somethings tasted their way through dozens of grades from small East Coast producers to some of Japan’s biggest.

Vuylsteke says that one of his next challenges is getting imbibers to think outside Asian cuisine when pairing sake with food.

“You can pair it with just about anything across the American cuisine landscape,” he says. “You don’t have to follow rules like in wine pairing.”

Sake Fest Sake One Oregon Craft Event

He’ll also continue developing education to get Americans to move on from the saké bomb. He sees a climate down the road, much like tequila is today, with drinkers turning to sake as a sipping drink and not as a shooter.

“There’s going to be more intrigue,” he says.

Some of the collaborations at Saké Fest have already gone to prove that. Portland’s Burnside Brewing Co. worked with Japan’s Shonan Beer to create Sakura Gose, a sour brewed with salted Japanese cherry blossoms that’s on tap year-round. It’s a beautiful, light transition brew for those en route to the world of saké.

As American drinkers search for the exotic and undiscovered, saké will continue to grow from a niche product into one of the everyday lexicon. It will rightfully move on from a fast shooter to something to savor.

Editors' Recommendations

Here’s what drinks pros have learned from Dry January
How do you extend Dry January all year long? We got some advice from the pros
A pair of mocktails.

A new year is upon us and for a lot of people, that means new healthy habits. It might mean a new diet, pre-bedtime sleep ritual, or cutting back on the booze. Often, the plusses of these lifestyle changes are so significant that you hope to continue them well beyond just January.

There are lots of sober curious people looking to take the merits of Dry January all the way through 2023. But it's not easy, especially with our favorite bars back open, friends always looking for an excuse to get out, and some really good cocktails in the mix. So we solicited some advice from drinks industry pros who've done the Dry January thing and learned from it. Here's some of that valuable wisdom, passed on to the new, 2023 version of you.

Read more
The 5 best low-calorie drinks to order at the bar
Low-calorie drinks: Put down the light beer. You're better than that.
Paloma

It's inevitable. With the new year now well underway, most of us will at least be flirting with the idea of getting back into shape after the sugar-filled holiday season. For better or worse, those cookies were delicious, Mom's gravy was silky smooth and decadent, and the mulled wine was flowing. There are plenty of good reasons to clean up our diets come January, whether the goal is to drop a few pounds, or just cleanse our bodies of all of those sugar plums. Some even opt for a Dry January, entirely abstaining from alcohol for the whole of what feels like the coldest, darkest month of the year. If that's your thing, more power to you! We salute you. But for those of us with slightly less willpower who still want to tidy up our systems, there are other, less extreme alternatives.

Simply opting for low-calorie alcoholic drinks is a perfectly reasonable compromise. Instead of a creamy, whipped indulgence with a candy cane rim, maybe just order a vodka soda. A diet gin and tonic sure feels crisp, light, and refreshing after consuming all of Uncle Marv's eggnog. The trick is knowing these healthier alternatives and being prepared when the bartender heads your way.

Read more
The best (and worst) stadium food in the US, ranked
Betting.com analyzed over 100,000 reviews to bring you the best and the worst foods at U.S. sports arenas
Baseball food — chili dog and chili fries.

The beginning of winter is a time for sports highlights. Baseball is in the midst of free agency, the NBA season features marquee matchups throughout the holidays, and the NFL is tilting toward the playoffs. Whether it’s in your hometown or an excursion on the road, heading to a sporting event is an iconic way to experience a locale. Sports stadiums like to show off local culture, and there are few better ways to do this than with stadium food.

M&R Glasgow
The best stadium food

Read more